Arizona nixes January primary

In a closely watched decision, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer decided Friday against moving her state’s presidential primary to Jan. 31, a decision that would have almost certainly triggered a domino effect pushing the New Hampshire primary and Iowa caucuses into early January, if not December 2011.

Story Continued Below

Brewer, a Republican, began discussing moving the primary forward out of a push to make the state a major player in determining the GOP’s presidential nominee.

“I would like an early primary if at all possible,” she said, speaking to reporters on Thursday. “I think that kind of highlights Arizona a lot more.”

Under pressure not to move the date to Jan. 31 — a decision that would have been made by Saturday to accord with state election laws requiring 150 days advance notice — Brewer indicated on Thursday that she would retreat from her plan to move the state’s primary to January if instead Arizona could host a presidential debate.

That possibility appears to have been opened by the Republican National Committee, which has been eager to avoid a shake-up of the primary calendar, according to a statement released late Friday by Arizona Republican Party chairman Tom Morrissey.

“The Arizona Republican Party shares and supports Governor Jan Brewer’s goal to ensure that Arizona voters are heard loud and clear during the presidential nominating process,” Tom Morrissey said. “So I was pleased to learn that the Republican National Committee has preliminarily granted Arizona an RNC-sanctioned debate among GOP candidates, preferably in December 2011.”

But Brewer could still shift the date forward. The Arizona governor, a Republican, told the Associated Press that she is still considering setting her state’s primary at a date before the Republican National Committee-approved date of Feb. 28, but after Jan. 31.

The Iowa caucuses are currently scheduled for Feb. 6, 2012, and the New Hampshire primary for Feb. 14, but Republican officials in the early states pledged to protect their place at the head of the primary calendar.

Despite the recent jockeying by Arizona and other states — most prominently Florida — looking to move up their votes, Iowa GOP Chairman Matt Strawn said Friday he remained cautiously optimistic that the primary calendar would not be disrupted, though he’d make sure Iowa stayed first no matter what Brewer or anyone else does.